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posted by martyb on Thursday November 15 2018, @01:37PM   Printer-friendly
from the sign-of-things-to-come dept.

Ford's China partner planning to sell in U.S. in 2020

Ford Motor Co.'s newest Chinese partner, Zotye Automobile, is preparing to launch at least two SUVs in the Blue Oval's backyard.

The relatively small Chinese automaker Zotye Automobile International Co. is partnering with California-based HAAH Automotive Holdings to look beyond its home market and form a new sales distribution company in the United States known as Zotye USA (pronounced ZOH-tay) — a tie-up that would sell direct competitors to some of Ford's most lucrative SUVs.

"We're facing a new reality where the Chinese domestic market is slowing for the first time in recent memory," said Michael Dunne, CEO of Hong Kong-based ZoZo Go, a firm that advises automakers on the Chinese market. "Now that things have gone soft, automakers are finding themselves in a situation where they have to export and find new markets. Zotye is possibly the first, but they won't be the last."

Also at MarketWatch and CNET.


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  • (Score: 2) by The Shire on Friday November 16 2018, @03:36PM (5 children)

    by The Shire (5824) on Friday November 16 2018, @03:36PM (#762714)

    Profit and Quality are like Security vs Ease of Use, they are opposing elements. Right now the Chinese are all about profit and not so much about quality. They will provide the bare minimum of quality in order for their marketing to succeed and not one iota more. Face it, this is a nation who, if you hit someone in an accident with your car, they will go back and make sure you're dead because it's cheaper. Ethics are an afterthought in most production environments over there.

    And if you don't believe me, here's some backup:

    https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/disturbing-stories-from-chinas-roads/news-story/9cdb5a1db6620d454a0ca96128f8cd6e [news.com.au]

    There are a lot more documented incidents if you care to look.

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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday November 17 2018, @05:41AM (4 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 17 2018, @05:41AM (#762975) Journal
    The money quote:

    Motorists who kill people in road accidents typically pay between $US30,000 and $US50,000, while caring for someone seriously injured can run into the millions. Drivers appear confident that they can bribe local officials or hire lawyers to avoid murder charges.

    Going back to my earlier example, why would GM behave any different from a Chinese firm, given the same incentives? Don't confuse what is incentivized with what is moral. When bad behavior costs one or two orders of magnitude less than good behavior, you're going to get a lot of bad behavior. Laws and regulations aren't the only way to incentivize good behavior. Customer behavior can as well.

    Here, putting out cars which have a high total cost of ownership means few customers will buy them.

    • (Score: 2) by The Shire on Saturday November 17 2018, @04:11PM (3 children)

      by The Shire (5824) on Saturday November 17 2018, @04:11PM (#763134)

      It's a cultural difference. Western workers will report unsafe practices to their unions or the government. In China, unsafe practices in the name of profitability are considered the norm, no one bats an eye. So ultimately you end up with a seriously inferior product from China when compared to something manufactured in the west.

      Generally you wont even know it until a year later, or when the warranty expires that the thing was built with substandard materials. Your engine block will crack because they used cheap alloys, your trim will dry rot from being made from the same plastic as the crap toys. A thousand things that can result from unethical chinese build practices. It may look great the day you buy it but you'll pay dearly in the long run.

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday November 17 2018, @08:01PM (2 children)

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 17 2018, @08:01PM (#763192) Journal

        It's a cultural difference. Western workers will report unsafe practices to their unions or the government. In China, unsafe practices in the name of profitability are considered the norm, no one bats an eye. So ultimately you end up with a seriously inferior product from China when compared to something manufactured in the west.

        And your point is? Cultural differences can be changed. My point is that too much is made of the "cultural difference" and not enough of the incentives for producing goods of better quality.

        • (Score: 2) by The Shire on Sunday November 18 2018, @08:06PM (1 child)

          by The Shire (5824) on Sunday November 18 2018, @08:06PM (#763596)

          My point is, cultural differences are slow to change. If everyone around you takes the cheap and easy path then you are not likely to be rewarded for standing up and saying "Hey, we should stop making crap".

          The initial entry into the auto industry will be a very painful one for the chinese as they try to shake the justifiable image of being makers of cheap broken crap. They will have to learn the hard way to boost their quality levels and earn the trust of consumers the same way the Japanese did. It can happen, over time, but for the foreseeable future the market will be very hard on them.

          I'm sure the Chinese government will do everything in their power to make sure Trump isn't re-elected, because if he is then the market will remain tough on them through 2024. The more the Chinese government subsidizes their cars to try to undercut US auto makers, the more tariffs they're likely to see.

          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday November 19 2018, @03:09PM

            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday November 19 2018, @03:09PM (#763880) Journal
            And my point is that China is at least a decade into this hard process and has already demonstrated that it has the ability and will to make it happen. Arik has already noted [soylentnews.org] several industries that make high quality products for the developed world markets (and these often have to meet onerous standards like the ISO series). It's already happening.